ruby - How to extract the code from a Proc object?

Question

Given a Proc object, is it possible to look at the code inside it?

For example:

p = Proc.new{test = 0}

What I need is for some way to get the string "test = 0" from a Proc object that has already been created.

Answer 1

You can use the ruby2ruby library:

>> # tested with 1.8.7
>> require "parse_tree"
=> true
>> require "ruby2ruby"
=> true
>> require "parse_tree_extensions"
=> true
>> p = Proc.new{test = 0}
>> p.to_ruby
=> "proc { test = 0 }"

You can also turn this string representation of the proc back to ruby and call it:

>> eval(p.to_ruby).call
0

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More about ruby2ruby in this video: Hacking with ruby2ruby.